NEW moves have been made to tackle diabetes, which is on the increase on Teesside.

Dr Richard Rigby, a Loftus GP and executive committee member of Langbaurgh Primary Care Trust, said: "People on Teesside die younger than elsewhere in the country, mainly through poor lifestyles and high levels of deprivation.

"Both contribute to a high rate of diabetes in our area.

"One in ten people currently receiving NHS in-patient treatment have diabetes and the figures are increasing, particularly among our Asian and elderly communities and more frighteningly, among young people."

Diabetes, if detected early, can be successfully treated. Left undetected and untreated it can cause comas, heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and blindness.

Dr Rigby, is spearheading a number of initiatives in an atempt to put a brake on the disease.

They include one-stop shop community clinics providing treatment and preventative work and records kept on diabetes patients, so the prevalence of diabetes and the care patients receive can be monitored.

A range of tests to detect the condition are now offered and a diabetes specialist nurse has been appointed

A retinal screening service will be launched over the next few months.

Dr Rigby said: "If diabetes is left untreated it can lead to blindness. By taking a digital photograph of the back of the eye, spots can be quickly identified.

"The spots are caused by arteries 'furring', rupturing and bleeding into the eye. Once the digital image has been taken, symptoms can be quickly treated by laser."

Twenty four doctors and nurses have successfully gained certificates in primary diabetes care, resulting in more professionals qualified in local GP practices to work with diabetes sufferers.